Sink or Swim Katherine A. Sprang Typical of the small

Typical of the small

and generally cultural

includes owning a home

About the Author: Dr Nicholas Campion is Principal Lecturer in History and Director of the Sophia Centre at Bath Spa University

is not the essential element

Sink or Swim Katherine A. Sprang Typical of the smallPeople living in the nineteenth century United States saw shocking upheavals in both the economy and in ideas of selfhood in a commercial society. Narratives such as Horatio Alger's rags to riches tales allured Americans with visions of financial success, while events such as the Panics of 8 9, 837, 857, and 8 5 threatened them with sudden and devastating financial failure. The antebellum period's "go ahead" ethos encouraged individuals to form an